As she passed in front of us and continued down the aisle, I leaned over and shared a passing thought with my traveling companion.

In what seemed like no time at all, she reappeared at our side. ”Oh my, I did forget your tea.”, the extremely apologetic stewardess said. ”I’m so sorry. I’ll be right back.”

I was so embarrassed. I really didn’t mean for her to overhear me.  All that I had whispered to my partner was “I just realized that I never got my tea.”  And now that I think about it, how could she have even heard what I said anyway? She was three seats away!

So when she did bring my tea, I asked her.  ”How did you manage to hear what I said?” “Practice”, she answered. ”The key to being really good at my job is training myself to hear what my customers are saying even when they don’t think I’m listening.”

Bottom line? Eavesdropping. Simple, systematic eavesdropping. More commonly known as listening when you’re not supposed to be. When was the last time that you eavesdropped on your customers? Do you know what they’re saying about you when they don’t think that you’re listening?  Or, as another generation might have said, are your ears burning as often as they should be?

Four Innovative ways to eavesdrop on your  customers
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